Thursday, July 2, 2009

Really Rosie

I figured it was time to start pushing my personal envelope in the decorating arena. I mean.. I'm doing well in regards to cookies... but my cakes. *sigh* my cakes need WORK.

So.. instead of diving right in, I decided to see if I could master just one little aspect of cake decorating... decorative roses.

I made my own gum paste... which wasn't that hard to do. but like my challenge with Elmo... I clearly needed a LOT more red at this point.

after I had a decent shade to work with... it was all about making little balls, flattening them out, then wrapping them around each other.

I got better with each one I did... or at least got faster.

I also decided to make just a few roses of a yellow shade.... that I ended up using on a chocolate cake.

The thing I think I like most about these roses is that they can be made well in advance of when you actually NEED them. Considering most of my baking and decorating has to happen in the small windows that I am not actively parenting the kids (which.. by the way, during summer is like ALWAYS) I appreciate the whole "set it and forget it" mentality with gum paste.

I still dislike that gum paste has no real flavor, and essentially will break you teeth if you try to eat it... but hey. they look nice. And every rose has a thorn, right? it's only fitting that gum paste roses have a snag factor, too.

1 comment:

Those look amazing. Great job! I've got a question for you (as someone who has NEVER attempted anything on this skill level). Do you make different sized balls and use the smallest to start the flower?